News Wrap: Dozens of children and adults killed by attacker in Thailand

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• Amna Nawaz:

  Horror, terror and death at a day care in Northeastern Thailand. An attacker armed with guns and a knife stormed into the center and massacred at least 36 people. More than nine others were injured. It is now the deadliest mass murder in the nation's history.

  Stephanie Sy has the details.

• Stephanie Sy:

  Most of the dead were children, some as young as 2 years old. Early reports said only a few victims survived.

  This witness was deeply shaken by what she saw.

• Person (through translator):

  He used his feet to kick the window. Then he shot at the door. I thought he got inside. I ran to the kitchen. I was in shock. I didn't know what to do.

• Stephanie Sy:

  First responders described shattered innocence.

• Piyalak Kingkaew, First Responder (through translator):

  Nobody wants this to happen. We are used to seeing a large number of bodies. We have been through it before. But this incident is the most harrowing of all, as they're little kids who were still sleeping. They were in a place where they were supposed to be innocent. And I don't think that they will ever know what happened to them.

• Stephanie Sy:

  Officials said, after the violence, the gunman fled the scene to his home, where he killed his wife and child, before taking his own life.

  The suspect was identified as 34-year-old Panya Kamrap, a former police officer fired earlier this year due to drug charges. A motive has yet to be found. This was Thailand's deadliest rampage, surpassing a 2020 mass shooting in which your former soldier killed at least 28 people and wounded 58 at a military base and shopping mall.

  Though guns in Thailand are available, mass shootings are relatively uncommon, and firearms kill about two in 100,000 people in Thailand every year, vs. the United States with 12 shooting deaths per 100,000.

  Today, Thailand's prime minister expressed his sadness surrounding the attack.

• Gen. Prayuth Chan-Ocha, Thai Prime Minister (through translator):

  I have received a report. We're checking the motive. He might have something inside him, facing problems. I don't take anyone's side. This shouldn't happen. It definitely shouldn't happen. I feel deep sadness towards the victims and relatives. Nobody thought this would happen.

• Stephanie Sy:

  As locals rushed to a nearby hospital to donate blood, dozens of families were left mourning the loss of their littlest loved ones.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Roughly 185,000 homes and businesses in Florida are still without electricity a week after Hurricane Ian ravaged the state. Utilities expect the power restoration to be nearly complete by Friday night. But they acknowledge that some areas are so badly damaged that it may not be safe to restore service.

  We will take a closer look at the ongoing recovery efforts later in the program.

  The Biden administration pardoned thousands of Americans convicted on federal charges of simple possession of marijuana. The administration is encouraging governors to do the same. The president also directed his administration to review how marijuana is classified as a drug under federal law.

  We will have more on this later in the program.

  Proud Boy member Jeremy Bertino pleaded guilty today in federal court to seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6 insurrection. He's the first member of the far right group to do so. Bertino could potentially be a key witness for the Justice Department when five other Proud Boy members stand trial on similar charges starting in December.

  Separately, a former member of the Oath Keepers testified today that the far right group's founder claimed he was in contact with a Secret Service agent in the months leading up to the January 6 attack. John Zimmerman was called as a witness in the trial of Stewart Rhodes, the group's founder, who's charged with seditious conspiracy.

  There is word Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska will resign from office before the end of the year. He will reportedly take a position as president of the University of Florida. Sasse was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict former President Donald Trump over his role on January 6.

  A federal judge has halted key provisions of New York's latest sweeping gun law. The judge said the law went too far in requiring applicants to turn over their social media information. The ruling also keeps in place restrictions that bar firearms in schools, government buildings and places of worship, but says the state cannot ban guns from sensitive locations like Times Square. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the state's previous gun law.

  South Korea says North Korea flew 12 warplanes near their shared border today, further ratcheting up tensions. The South responded by launching 30 warplanes of their own. All that came hours after North Korea fired two more ballistic missiles into the sea, its sixth round of missile tests in less than two weeks.

  In Seoul, South Korea's president condemned the repeated provocations and urged calm.

• Yoon Suk-Yeol, South Korean President (through translator):

  People could be worried, but our government will thoroughly take care of the people's lives and safety, based on a strong South Korea-U.S. alliance and security cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan.

• Amna Nawaz:

  As part of a joint allied response, a U.S. aircraft carrier returned to the waters east of South Korea. Allied warships conducted a drill to simulate shooting down North Korea's missiles.

  At least 22 people are dead tonight after two boats packed with migrants sank off the Greek islands of Lesbos and Kythira. Dozens are still missing. Dramatic video captured local residents rescuing some of the migrants by using rope to pull them up cliffs. People from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran were among those rescued. Many of the dead were believed to be from African nations.

  Back in this country, more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, but the labor market overall remains strong. The Labor Department reported jobless claims rose to 219,000. That is up 29,000 from the previous week and the highest number in four months.

  Stocks, meanwhile, tumbled on Wall Street today, as investors await tomorrow's job report for September. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 347 points to close to 29927. The Nasdaq fell 75 points and the S&P 500 slipped 39.

  And the Nobel Prize for literature was awarded today to a prominent French author for her uncompromising portraits of her life. Annie Ernaux has penned more than 20 books, mostly autobiographical works, that detail intimate life events, including abortion, illness, and the deaths of her parents. She's one of France's most honored authors and just the 17th woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature.